


Old Friend, New Tricks

by MathClassWarfare



Series: We’ve Got Plenty of Time [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Camping, Dogs, Friendship, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Headcanon, POV Umbra (Final Fantasy XV), Post-Canon, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-28 15:16:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19814959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MathClassWarfare/pseuds/MathClassWarfare
Summary: Noctis is back from the dead, to live the mundane life of a regular human. Umbra has decided to join him, as a regular dog.





	Old Friend, New Tricks

The smell comes from several directions all at once—embers and soot and the remnants of something foul and not meant for this world. Umbra sneezes and the human smiles, placing a hand on his head. It feels warm, and nice. 

He knows this human well—he’s not _his_ human, but they’ve met many times and in many places. (Before, Umbra always carried the book to him, but now there is no book.) This human is normally quiet, and low-energy. He sleeps almost as much as a dog. Right now, he’s very still but his breathing is fast. Umbra can tell that he’s afraid. 

There are other familiar humans that Umbra can still smell. They’re back in the place he and the low-energy human just left. He adjusts his ears and hears one of them cry out. The low-energy human surely cannot hear this, because he doesn’t react. Umbra can sense their despair, but this is the human who needs his help most right now, so he stays put.

He cannot smell his sister. Not anymore. He cannot smell his human anymore, either. The one who is so graceful. The one who would lay in the garden and laugh while Umbra and his sister licked her face and bit her hair. He thinks of them, and he sighs. He knows he cannot go to where they are. 

“Okay,” the human whispers, and Umbra gets ready to move. “C’mon.”

As they walk through the city, they see other humans. Unfamiliar humans that step out tentatively from inside buildings, or up staircases from the underground. The sun is high in the sky and the humans lift their hands over their eyes and look up, smiling. Many of them cry out. 

The low-energy human doesn’t greet the other humans. He walks away from them, and Umbra follows at his heels. They enter the underground and go into a small room. The human sits with his knees pulled to his chest and falls asleep. Umbra stands guard. 

They stay underground for a long time. The human has food, and he shares it with Umbra. It’s cold and chewy and wrapped in packaging. 

Eventually, the food runs out. 

When they leave the underground it’s dark outside and Umbra is hungry. He thinks of his bowl—of the delicious crunchy kibble that his human or one of the others at his home would give the dogs to eat. But he cannot get to his bowl right now. It’s too far away, and he doesn’t have the ability to travel like he used to. Now, if he wants to go somewhere, he can only use his legs. 

The low-energy human must be hungry too. Umbra can hear the sounds coming from his stomach and sense his growing panic. 

They see a group of unfamiliar humans sitting around a fire. The low-energy human hesitates, breathes deep, and begins slowly walking towards them. Umbra follows, on the alert for any possible dangers.

One of the strangers calls out to them, saying some words that Umbra doesn’t recognize. The low-energy human stops a short distance away, and shakes his head. Another unfamiliar human pats an empty chair that does not look very comfortable. She says some more words. 

The low-energy human doesn’t sit. He speaks quietly and grips the back of the chair. His words are halting and he looks at the fire while he speaks. Umbra can hear that his heart is beating very quickly.

Then all the other humans are talking at once, and gesturing. The low-energy human finally sits in the chair, and Umbra sits at his feet. 

The humans have meat on sticks, and Umbra’s mouth salivates as he looks at them. Someone hands two sticks to the low-energy human, and he gives some meat to Umbra. It is so good. Someone else puts a bowl of water on the ground, and Umbra drinks for a long time. Then he touches his paw to the low-energy human’s knee. This gets him more meat, just like he had hoped.

They stay by the fire a long time. The humans talk to one another, and sometimes address Umbra. He familiarizes himself with their smells, and enjoys their affection. Later, they follow one of the new humans inside a building and down some stairs, to a room with a soft-looking couch. The low-energy human relaxes at last. Umbra curls up at his feet, and they both fall asleep.

⁂

They stay close to the building for many days. It must be their new home.

The humans spend most of their time working with their hands—filling in the holes in the walls and the roof. Sometimes they walk to other nearby buildings, and Umbra naps in the shade while the humans work.

Then the humans bring books and put them in the building. None of them are _the_ book—Umbra would know. The low-energy human has a new book that he writes in, but he doesn’t ever give it to Umbra. He probably knows that Umbra couldn’t deliver it to his graceful human anymore. 

Sometimes new humans arrive in the neighborhood. They come to the building. They stand around and talk to one another. They pick up the books and set them down again. The new humans greet Umbra when they notice him. They scratch his belly when he rolls onto his back. This is why he likes to wander through the building, even though his low-energy human usually stays in the basement when they’re at home. He listens to music, and works with paper and a big machine to make many small books. Sometimes Umbra misses him and goes downstairs to watch. 

One day, many humans come to the building—more than ever before. Some of them are familiar and others are new. It is very crowded and the humans tell Umbra to stay in the basement. He leans against the door and sighs. He doesn’t want to stay. He wants to greet the humans and look for things to eat. The low-energy human stays with him, sitting on the floor and petting his back. He gives Umbra a cookie. They listen to the sound of one human speaking upstairs, and Umbra cleans up all of the crumbs.

This occasional burst of activity at the building becomes routine. When other humans crowd the main floor, Umbra and his low-energy human always stay downstairs, listening at the door until all the unfamiliar ones leave and Umbra gets to go outside. It’s always the same—until it isn’t.

Now, Umbra is in the basement alone, listening through the door to the sound of his human speaking. Umbra can hear the squeak of the floor as the other humans move around. He can also smell someone familiar—someone he hasn’t smelled in a long time. He desperately wants to go upstairs to investigate. He whimpers, but nobody is around to hear him.

Then there are footsteps moving fast down the stairs. Umbra jumps up and backs away from the door just in time for it to swing open. His human is breathing fast and grinning. Then he turns to face the door just before it opens again, and the familiar smell hits Umbra with full force.

This is a human that Umbra first learned about from his sister. She came home carrying his scent on a strip of cloth—evidence that he cared for her, that he was a good human. Umbra finally met him one day while delivering the book. He was always very high-energy, and he was kind. Umbra is happy to see him, and wags his tail. The human doesn’t pay attention to him though. He’s focused on the other one. 

The humans are holding each-other and shaking. Umbra can tell that they are both very emotional, and he’s concerned. He barks at them, but they don’t respond. He can see that they’re smiling, but he stays alert. 

Then they start doing something with their mouths that doesn’t make any sense. Are they eating? What are they doing? He barks at them again, and the high-energy human laughs and pulls away from the other. Finally, he crouches down and greets Umbra. He scratches at the fur on his chest and rubs his belly. 

Then the low-energy human grabs his hand and pulls him away. They fall onto the couch and start doing that thing again. Umbra can sense that they’re getting increasingly worked up. He sniffs their faces, trying to figure out what’s going on. The low-energy human pushes Umbra’s nose away again and again before yelling “No!” It is so loud and stern. 

Umbra startles and backs up. The humans want him to stay away from them. He curls up under the table with the big machine and whines. He feels bad, but he leaves them alone while they do whatever it is that they’re doing. Humans can be so confusing sometimes.

⁂

They’re in a new building that’s far away from the last one. Umbra isn’t sure how far because they didn’t walk all the way there. They went underground, and into a room that moved. Then they came back up to ground-level in a completely different place— a place Umbra had never been before.

He can tell that this is the high-energy human’s home, because everything smells like him. He doesn’t know if this place is safe or not, though. The building is so big and he hears so many sounds—unfamiliar dogs barking, unfamiliar humans talking, footsteps. He should guard the humans, just in case. They are still very emotional, and probably not paying attention to the dangers outside the door. So Umbra sits, upright and alert, just on the other side, and lets out a low growl. He keeps any would-be intruders away while his humans talk and cry late into the night.

After many hours without any threats approaching from the hallway, Umbra lets down his guard and lets his eyes fall closed.

⁂

_He knows this field—tall blue flowers sway in the breeze as far as Umbra can see. He’s home again! Somehow, he travelled here. He thought it was impossible but here he is, and here comes his sister running towards him and whooshing past, her path arcing in a wide circle. He races after her, barking and nipping at her ear. They run around and around and Umbra’s heart soars._

_When they’re tired, they stop running and sit, panting in the grass. Umbra’s sister licks his mouth respectfully. He can smell his beloved human on her, but she doesn’t seem to be anywhere nearby. Umbra sniffs the air and listens as carefully as he can, but all he hears is the sound of the breeze moving through stalks of grass and flowers, and the buzz of tiny wings. Other than the insects, the dogs are all alone in this field. Umbra’s sister takes a long sniff and perks up, happy. He thinks she can smell the high-energy human on him. He licks her face._

_The two of them lay together, absorbing the light of the sun, and Umbra drifts off to sleep._

⁂

He wakes up and he’s back in the new building. Light is streaming in through the windows, and Umbra crosses the room to plop down into a sunbeam. Then the low-energy human goes to where they keep the food in this place. Umbra follows him, watching closely as the human opens and closes compartments and picks up different foods and puts them down again. He sits at the human’s feet and whines.

Then the high-energy human wakes up, and the other human rushes to his side. Umbra is worried that the humans have forgotten about him. He is so hungry, searching the floor for crumbs.

After a very long wait—while the humans close themselves into a small room with running water—the low-energy human finally pours some kibble into a bowl. Umbra loves kibble. It makes such a satisfying crunch when he eats it.

By the time he finishes eating, the high-energy human is pulling coverings onto his feet—that means he’s about to go outside. That means Umbra gets to go outside! He jumps up, excited, and meets the human at the door. 

The high-energy human is more nervous than usual—breathing and moving very quickly. They enter a small, confusing room that Umbra remembers from the night before. There’s a repeating, bright ding sound, as the room moves lower through the building. Umbra cocks his head to the side and listens to the sounds of other humans and dogs on the levels that they pass. The small room stops and another human enters. The new human speaks to the high-energy human, then greets Umbra and scratches between his ears. He notices the high-energy human say “Umbra.” Then new human says “Umbra,” and scratches him again.

When they exit the building, the high-energy human starts to run. Umbra is pumped! His other human hardly ever runs. He easily keeps pace, and it feels good to move his legs and fill his lungs. 

They approach another building and the human tells him to “Sit,” and “Stay,” outside. There are very good smells coming from inside that building, but Umbra wants to be a good boy, so he sits and he stays and he watches the human go inside. 

Umbra watches through the transparent door, and sees the human bouncing on his heels and touching the very important object that he always carries with him (all the humans seem to have one). Even from this far away, he notices the human becoming very distressed. Finally, after another human hands him a bag of what must be food, the high-energy human rushes back out through the door, saying “C’mon Umbra!” 

They run even faster this time, back to the big building. In the small, moving room, the high-energy human says “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon,” but he’s just standing in place, bouncing up and down. There is nowhere to go, and Umbra is already standing next to him. When the door opens, the human runs through the passageway, and stops at the door to their home. He fumbles with something in his pocket and drops it on the ground. His anxiety is contagious, and Umbra barks at him. Then the door opens, and the high-energy human falls onto the low-energy human. The two humans hold onto each other for a long time. It takes awhile for Umbra to calm down.

Living with the high-energy human is a big change, but Umbra likes it. Yes, he spends more time on the alert—because his new human is so often excited or distressed—but it’s also more fun. He gets to run every day. He gets to go to lots of new places and meet other humans and dogs. He gets to snuggle up on the soft couch between both of his humans and there are twice as many hands to pet him. He has twice as many opportunities to convince one of the humans to give him a snack.

If only his sister and his sweet, graceful one could be there too. Then it would be perfect.

⁂

One morning, Umbra is running with the high-energy human when they stop in a new place. The ground is covered in grass, but it’s more springy than grass usually is, and it scratches at the pads of his paws. He sniffs the ground and it smells like pee—a lot of pee, from many different dogs.

The other dogs here are also sniffing the ground, moving slowly around the perimeter of this small, scratchy field. Umbra trots over to one of them—a dog about his size with a scrunched-up nose. Umbra wonders if this dog has trouble smelling things with a nose like that. 

They exchange sniffs, and Umbra stretches his front legs out ahead of him, and sticks his haunches up into the air. The other dog hops once, and spins. Then he leaps at Umbra, knocking him with a paw. Umbra dodges out of the way and hip-checks the other dog, then he takes off running at full speed. 

The other dog follows, then another joins in the chase, and another. Soon all of the dogs are chasing after Umbra. He weaves back and forth, towards a small opening in the fence that encircles this odd field. 

Just as he breaks through, he hears frantic shouting from his human—words the he doesn’t know at first, and then “Umbra! Come!” He changes directions, looping back around and running to his human. Not many of the other dogs follow him. Several humans pass him on their way after the ones that don’t.

Umbra sits at his human’s feet, panting happily.

The high-energy human says, “Good boy Umbra!” 

He is so glad to hear that he did the right thing.

⁂

It’s a very good day because Umbra is going for a ride in the car! He doesn’t get to do this very often. Usually, he runs with his high-energy human or he walks with his low-energy human (or both of them together). But sometimes when they are with one particular calm and controlled human—the one who the others seem to respect the most—he gets to go in the car. In the car, he can look out the window and see new places and smell new things.

Today the car is crowded with four humans plus Umbra. The humans brought many things with them. Umbra can smell his kibble in the back—in a compartment that he can’t reach. It’s not time to eat yet, but smelling the kibble always makes him salivate. 

There are a lot of different emotions flowing through the group, and Umbra is trying to pay close attention to everyone. His high-energy human is talking a lot, even more than he usually does. His low-energy human is very quiet, looking straight ahead in the direction that the car is moving. The controlled human is petting Umbra, who is leaning into him and resting his head in the human’s lap. The human on his other side is also petting him. Umbra likes this one, but he’s unpredictable. He doesn’t have the nervous energy of the high-energy human, which Umbra has gotten used to by now. This volatile human will sometimes go from calm to shouting without any warning. Right now he’s quietly looking at a book.

Suddenly the car jumps with a loud thunk, and Umbra slides off his comfortable spot and onto the floor. He’s very startled, and lets everyone know. 

The controlled human helps him back up onto the seat and strokes his head. Umbra can tell that this human is annoyed with the others in the front of the car, but he can’t tell why. The volatile human gives Umbra a scratch on his haunches. He settles back down into the controlled human’s lap, but stays even more alert than before. He hopes the car won’t lurch like that again. 

When the car stops, three of the humans get out. The low-energy human lets out a long sigh and takes the very important shiny object out of his pocket. He seems sad, so Umbra hops over to the front of the car, shoves his nose under his human’s hand, and steps his front paws onto his human’s lap. The human puts down the object and scratches Umbra’s neck, then he presses his forehead to the top of Umbra’s head. He says some quiet words, but Umbra only recognizes “buddy.”

The others come back and Umbra has to move to the back of the car again. He’s just getting himself situated when everyone becomes very agitated all at once. His low-energy human is shouting—which is very uncommon. The controlled human has an angry expression, and Umbra’s high-energy human is flustered and nervous. Umbra looks up at the volatile human—the apparent source of this disruption—and considers whether there is something he should do. But then, as suddenly as it started, the high-stress moment passes. All of the humans are laughing and seem more relaxed. Umbra feels much better, and he falls asleep.

The next thing he knows, they’re in a place Umbra recognizes. The last time he was here, it was dark, and very dangerous. The area was crawling with creatures that stunk like decay and despair.

He and the low-energy human traveled here from the island, where Umbra had waited for him. That was his job at the time. While he waited, he could hear the human from inside the stone walls. Sometimes Umbra could hear him shouting, and sometimes Umbra could hear him crying.

Now, things are very different. The sun is in the sky and it sparkles on the surface of the water. The waves roll in, up onto the sand, and Umbra runs through the surf, reveling in the cool sea breeze and all the smells it carries. 

The humans busy themselves with their many objects, and Umbra steers clear while the volatile human makes a fire. Then he approaches when he notices that they have food. 

The controlled human is talking while Umbra’s humans are handling the food. His low-energy human is smiling and relaxed, but he can tell that his high-energy human is nervous. Umbra sits on his foot and leans against his leg—he means to comfort his human, but it’s also a good position to be in when one of them inevitably drops something on the ground. Umbra always does his part to keep things clean.

After the humans roast meats and other less-interesting foods, and after everyone eats, and when the last embers of the fire go out, Umbra follows his humans into a flimsy enclosure. 

There are soft things on the ground, and Umbra and his humans lie down in a cozy pile. He keeps his ears perked up while the humans sleep. In another flimsy structure nearby, he can hear the volatile human and the controlled human speaking in low voices. From further away, he can hear crashing waves, the wind rustling tall grass, and the sound of small creatures scuttling over rocks. After awhile, he falls asleep too.

⁂

_It’s a large, open place covered with stone—all angular and surrounded by steps. It looks just like a place he’s been many times before, when he would deliver the book to the low-energy human so long ago. But it’s not quite that place. And that human isn’t here now. Instead, his dearest one—his graceful, radiant one—is sitting on the step, and beside her is Umbra’s sister._

_“Umbra!” The graceful human shouts, opening her arms. He runs to her and licks her face, and she laughs and buries her fingers in the fur at the back of his neck and behind his ears. She says something that he doesn’t understand. He sniffs her first, and then his sister, who licks at his ear._

_The graceful human reaches one arm around each of the dogs and pets them both for a long time, while they all look out at a glittering city that is too beautiful to exist in the mortal world._

⁂

An irresistible smell wafts through the walls of the thin enclosure, waking Umbra from his slumber. He presses his nose against the bottom of his high-energy human’s foot. It’s much easier to get this one to wake up than the other. Sure enough, his human leans forward to scratch Umbra between the ears. He zips open the enclosure so Umbra can escape, then zips it closed behind him.

Outside, Umbra sees—and smells—that the other two humans are preparing food. He runs to the edge of the campsite to relieve himself and then approaches them. He sits very politely and watches the volatile human turn over the crackling meat. The human says something and smiles down at Umbra. 

The controlled human says “Umbra, come,” so he trots over to where he is sitting in one of the unstable-looking chairs (Umbra never sits in these chairs). Then the human says “Good boy,” and pets the fur on his neck. Umbra sits down at his feet, and basks in the attention.

Later, after the controlled human and the volatile human finish eating, they give Umbra some of the meat with his kibble. The delicious taste lingers on his tongue as he curls up and waits for his humans to emerge from their enclosure.

⁂

The rock is warm from the sunbeams shining down on this place, and Umbra is soaking it in and panting. The low energy human has been very quiet and still, looking at the water. This is something that he does sometimes, and Umbra is happy to sit quietly with him, leaning against his leg.

The other humans aren’t here. Earlier in the day, the three of them all got out of the car. Umbra was sorry to see them go. It’s better when everyone is together. They should stay together all the time.

When he and the low-energy human first came down to the water, Umbra thoroughly checked the area. He investigated the pebbly shoreline, and sniffed under shrubbery. He splashed in the water and had a drink. Then, sensing no immediate danger, he made himself comfortable.

Now, all of a sudden, the human jumps to his feet. He’s spinning the object in his hand—one way, and then the other—and saying something to himself, or to Umbra, or maybe to the fish that’s thrashing in the water. Umbra knows from experience that the human is trying to get the fish, so he jumps up and watches attentively as it moves closer and closer. Finally, it’s swinging and twirling in the air, and the human clutches it in his hands. He got it! The human looks so happy, and Umbra barks in celebration.

He’s very curious about the fish. It has an interesting smell and he wants to taste it, but he can’t because the human puts it inside a box. Umbra thinks he could probably open the box but he doesn’t. He figures that the human does not want him to do that. 

After the excitement is over, the two of them settle back down on the rock and look out at the water again. The low-energy human lazily strokes the fur on his back. 

The sunbeam has moved to another spot, but Umbra stays next to his human. 

This is where he belongs.


End file.
